This invention relates generally to an acoustically coupled communications device and in particular to a coupler for acoustically coupling a microphone and a speaker of the communications device to a telephone handset.
In order for a device, having a speaker and microphone, to acoustically communicate data and information through a telephone handset over a telephone line, it is necessary to acoustically couple the mouthpiece and earpiece of the telephone handset to a speaker and a microphone, respectively, of the communications device. A good acoustic coupling of the device to the telephone handset provides reliable transmission and reception of the data and information signals.
Conventional acoustical modems are acoustically coupled to the telephone handset in order to transmit data over the telephone system. These acoustical modems often used large cups which enclosed the entire mouthpiece and the entire earpiece of the telephone handset in order to acoustically couple the speaker and microphone of the acoustical modem to the telephone handset. These conventional acoustical modem couplers are generally quite large and unwieldy. In addition, these acoustical modem couplers are not designed to work with a small handheld device and could not be effectively incorporated into a small handheld device. In addition, these conventional acoustical modem couplers are primarily designed to be connected to a typical standard telephone handset, such as those used for pay telephones, and could not be easily adjusted to work with other types of telephone handsets, such as cellular telephones or cordless phones. There are some conventional acoustical couplers which provide some degree of adjustability of the large plastic cups, but even these adjustable acoustical couplers can not accommodate modem cellular telephones or cordless telephones due to the odd shape and positioning of the mouthpiece and earpiece of the telephone. For example, a typical cellular phone may have a flip portion with a mouthpiece integrated into the flip portion and an earpiece which is integrated into a body portion of the telephone which can not be effectively coupled to using the conventional acoustical couplers.
Another type of conventional acoustical modem coupler utilized a securing strap which wrapped around the telephone handset in order to tightly secure the mouthpiece and earpiece of the telephone handset to a microphone and speaker of the acoustical modem. To install such a modem onto the telephone handset, however, the user must attempt to align the speaker and microphone of the acoustical modem with the earpiece and mouthpiece, respectively, of the telephone handset and then attach the strap around the telephone handset without disturbing the alignment. This installation process is slow and it is difficult to achieve a good coupling. In addition, because this acoustical coupler is still large and heavy, this acoustical coupler is not intended for use with a small handheld device. As above, this conventional acoustical coupler also suffered from a lack of adjustment capability to adjust to different types of telephone handsets.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a coupler which is incorporated within a handheld communications device and permits the communications device to be acoustical coupled to a wide variety of different telephone handsets including conventional telephones, cellular telephones and cordless telephones. The coupler also overcomes the above problems with conventional acoustical couplers.